An Interview with François Bayle: By Norma Beecroft

Interviewed by Norma Beecroft as part of her ebook, Conversations With Post World War II Pioneers of Electronic Music.Recorded on audio cassette.Digital transfer and editing: William Van Ree

In the world of electronic music and especially in the French speaking countries, François Bayle is one of the most distinguished composers in the field. Initially self-taught, he continued his studies with Olivier Messiaen in Paris, and between 1959-62 he attended the summer courses at Darmstadt, working with Karlheinz Stockhausen.

In 1960, he joined Pierre Schaeffer and the Groupe de Recherches Musicales at the French Radio, assuming the responsibility for the GRM in 1966 which was integrated in 1975 with the Institut National de L’Audiovisuel. Bayle was at the head of the Institut until 1977.

In those early years, Bayle was involved in organizing concerts and broadcasts, and contributed to many technological developments, culminating in the Acousmonium in 1974, and initiating a recording label INA-GRM. In 1991, he founded his own electronic music studio, the Studio Magison, where he continues his work in research, writing and composition. He has been awarded many prestigious prizes, including the SACEM Grand Prize for Composers, 1978; National Record Grand Prize, 1981; Prix Arthur Honegger, 2011 among others.